“Buckle Up!” says the Washington Patrol

In an effort to prevent car accident deaths over the Memorial Day weekend, the Washington State Patrol is looking to ticket drivers not wearing seat belts. For the next two weeks, the WSP will be running extra emphasis patrols and stopping and ticketing drivers who are not buckled up.

The WSP ticketed 3,171 seat belt tickets last year at the same time during a two-week “Click it or Ticket” campaign.

According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, 52% of people who were killed in car accidents were not wearing seat belts at the time of their accidents. By increasing seat belt usage, lives are saved. Seat belts can prevent a passenger being thrown from the car in a rollover car accident and can help prevent spinal cord and traumatic brain injury because a person is not thrown about the car during an accident.

The Patrol will also be pulling over drivers they see using hand-held cell phone devices and ticketing those drivers as well.
Washington State Seat Belt Laws

Washington State has one of the highest seat belt compliance at around 98%. Washington’s seat belt law (RCW 46.61.688) requires:

Everyone riding in the vehicle to wear a seat belt

Requires the driver to insure that all passengers under the age of 16 to be properly restrained

Passengers 16 years or older can be issued a citation if they are not properly restrained.

It is important that there are no more passengers than available seat belts. Buckling one seat belt around two people or not properly wearing the shoulder restraint across the should is dangerous and can result in death. It is also against the law.

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents caused by the negligent act of another. We aggressively go against insurance companies in an effort to obtain the maximum compensation for our clients for the injuries the incurred.Call us today to schedule a Free and confidential case evaluation.